Don’t you love a challenge? When we are engaged in the pursuit of some ‘Holy Grail’ (like swashbuckling, archaeologist, Indiana Jones), our whole body and mind is absorbed by the best way to meet that challenge. Sir Ken Robinson talks about us being in the zone –or the ‘state of creative flow’.
For many creative people, sportsmen or women this is perhaps the greatest challenge, finding that single impetus or stimulus that drives us to exhaustion in perfecting our singing, or our golf swing, or perfecting the best mix of musical notes or songs, or our dance moves, or our drawing ability or our photographic skills to take that perfect shot. Our best learning and greatest creativity is sparked by being in “the zone”. Does practice make perfect? Well not necessarily, according to the latest research.
We have all heard the adage; we learn by doing. Yes it’s true but surprisingly, new research into the science of learning now reveals that we learn by watching too. According to Dr Anne Murphy Paul, who has just written a book about the subject, whether it’s a salsa teacher running through a dance sequence, or a tennis coach demonstrating the perfect backhand, or a science teacher conducting a dissection in front of a class, observing an expert at work is an opportunity to hone our own skills.
Paul maintains that this is particularly true for motor movements, and research in neuroscience is beginning to show why. She states that when we watch someone else’s motions, the parts of the brain that direct our own physical movements are activated. Observation accelerates the learning process because our brains are able to map others’ actions onto our own mental representations, making them more detailed and more accurate. Now I’m sure many of you may be thinking that all of the money paid to the golf professional has not resulted in a Greg Norman swing just yet, but despite this, the research is showing a clear correlation between the observations and the brain’s ability to absorb and direct our actions.
‘Couch potatoes’ beware, it’s not as easy as it sounds. While on the surface it appears that we can learn from observing experts, there is a catch. Research conducted by Professor of psychology, Scott Grafton, at the University of California also shows that we learn best when we engage a circuit in the brain whenever we observe movement, imagine performing it or actually engage in it ourselves. Scott Frey of the University of Oregon found through brain scans, that those people who had observed a person pulling apart a toy and putting it back together and told that they had to to do the task themselves, had greater brain activity in the region of the brain involved in motor learning, than the group that simply observed.
Similarly those people who don’t just play a piece of music for hours on end but instead undertake deliberate, painstaking practice, which involves a process of constant self-evaluation, of focusing on one’s weaknesses, results in better outcomes (superior playing skills), because the practice is about improving on and correcting one’s weaknesses.
There h
as been other groundbreaking research into the benefits of increased spatial learning and how it benefits a child’s learning and understanding of mathematics, science, technology and engineering. Nora Newcombe’s work on how children learn best in the early years highlighted that we best enhance the spatial learning in children by using hand gestures, use analogies and by using spatial language. The researchers found that when playing with blocks under interactive conditions, children hear the kind of language that helps them think about space, such as "over," "around" and "through."
"When parents use spatial language, they draw attention to spatial concepts," said Nora Newcombe, co-director of Temple's Infant Lab. "The development of a spatial vocabulary is critical for developing spatial ability and awareness."
She stresses the importance of play, particularly with puzzles, paper folding (origami for example) and block play but under specific guided play rather than ‘free’ play. "This study gives parents news they can use. It shows that, rather than leaving kids alone with a preassembled activity, interactive play that draws out conversation is best at facilitating spatial development," Newcombe said.
A recent “Time” magazine’s article: “Ten Ideas that are changing your life”, had at number three on the list, (and surprisingly not at number one), the change in the brain and the way we learn, as a result of mass consumption of knowledge from the internet and the almost total dependency on Google to answer all of life’s big and little questions. Are our heads, now, really in the clouds?
According to Betsy Sparrow, professor of psychology at Columbia University, skills like critical thinking and analysis must develop in the context of facts, because the evidence to date is showing some decline in our skills to memorise and to recall information from our long term memory. Sparrow points out that we need something to think and reason about and these facts can’t be Googled as we go; they need to be stored in the original hard-drive, our long term memory. Especially in the case of children, ‘factual knowledge must precede skill."
Adults too, according to Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, need to recruit a supply of stored knowledge in order to situate and evaluate new information we encounter. As he quips:
“You can’t Google context.”
According to Andrew Meltzoff, co director of the University of Washington’s Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences in Seattle, the ‘new science of learning’ reveals that :
· Learning is computational and that infants and toddlers posses innate capabilities to see and hear patterns. By reinforcing these capabilities in the very young we can shape and aid learning in the child.
· Learning is social and people learn better through social cues. According to Meltzoff: social factors play an important role in life-long learning.
· Learning is driven by brain circuitry and brain cells are fired up during both perception and action overlap in people, which allows students to identify with their teachers and speeds learning.
It seems that scientists are now quietly tackling education issues, offering up new tools, new approaches and even new disciplines, like the new science of learning which is a convergence of the thinking and research of psychologists, neuroscientists, roboticists and teachers. In time more research will reveal the wonders of learning and the practical applications of this research will be absorbed into the teaching and learning programs.
Melttzoff, when asked in an interview about the age old question of whether learning is primarily nature or nurture, had this to say:
“There is no real conflict between nature and nurture, no conflict between biology and culture. What is unique about human biology is that we depend on other people for learning. We are influenced deeply by our teachers, parents and peers. I like to say that we humans are born to learn.”
How true!
Karon Graham
For many creative people, sportsmen or women this is perhaps the greatest challenge, finding that single impetus or stimulus that drives us to exhaustion in perfecting our singing, or our golf swing, or perfecting the best mix of musical notes or songs, or our dance moves, or our drawing ability or our photographic skills to take that perfect shot. Our best learning and greatest creativity is sparked by being in “the zone”. Does practice make perfect? Well not necessarily, according to the latest research.
We have all heard the adage; we learn by doing. Yes it’s true but surprisingly, new research into the science of learning now reveals that we learn by watching too. According to Dr Anne Murphy Paul, who has just written a book about the subject, whether it’s a salsa teacher running through a dance sequence, or a tennis coach demonstrating the perfect backhand, or a science teacher conducting a dissection in front of a class, observing an expert at work is an opportunity to hone our own skills.
Paul maintains that this is particularly true for motor movements, and research in neuroscience is beginning to show why. She states that when we watch someone else’s motions, the parts of the brain that direct our own physical movements are activated. Observation accelerates the learning process because our brains are able to map others’ actions onto our own mental representations, making them more detailed and more accurate. Now I’m sure many of you may be thinking that all of the money paid to the golf professional has not resulted in a Greg Norman swing just yet, but despite this, the research is showing a clear correlation between the observations and the brain’s ability to absorb and direct our actions.
‘Couch potatoes’ beware, it’s not as easy as it sounds. While on the surface it appears that we can learn from observing experts, there is a catch. Research conducted by Professor of psychology, Scott Grafton, at the University of California also shows that we learn best when we engage a circuit in the brain whenever we observe movement, imagine performing it or actually engage in it ourselves. Scott Frey of the University of Oregon found through brain scans, that those people who had observed a person pulling apart a toy and putting it back together and told that they had to to do the task themselves, had greater brain activity in the region of the brain involved in motor learning, than the group that simply observed.
Similarly those people who don’t just play a piece of music for hours on end but instead undertake deliberate, painstaking practice, which involves a process of constant self-evaluation, of focusing on one’s weaknesses, results in better outcomes (superior playing skills), because the practice is about improving on and correcting one’s weaknesses.
There h
as been other groundbreaking research into the benefits of increased spatial learning and how it benefits a child’s learning and understanding of mathematics, science, technology and engineering. Nora Newcombe’s work on how children learn best in the early years highlighted that we best enhance the spatial learning in children by using hand gestures, use analogies and by using spatial language. The researchers found that when playing with blocks under interactive conditions, children hear the kind of language that helps them think about space, such as "over," "around" and "through.""When parents use spatial language, they draw attention to spatial concepts," said Nora Newcombe, co-director of Temple's Infant Lab. "The development of a spatial vocabulary is critical for developing spatial ability and awareness."
She stresses the importance of play, particularly with puzzles, paper folding (origami for example) and block play but under specific guided play rather than ‘free’ play. "This study gives parents news they can use. It shows that, rather than leaving kids alone with a preassembled activity, interactive play that draws out conversation is best at facilitating spatial development," Newcombe said.
A recent “Time” magazine’s article: “Ten Ideas that are changing your life”, had at number three on the list, (and surprisingly not at number one), the change in the brain and the way we learn, as a result of mass consumption of knowledge from the internet and the almost total dependency on Google to answer all of life’s big and little questions. Are our heads, now, really in the clouds?
According to Betsy Sparrow, professor of psychology at Columbia University, skills like critical thinking and analysis must develop in the context of facts, because the evidence to date is showing some decline in our skills to memorise and to recall information from our long term memory. Sparrow points out that we need something to think and reason about and these facts can’t be Googled as we go; they need to be stored in the original hard-drive, our long term memory. Especially in the case of children, ‘factual knowledge must precede skill."
Adults too, according to Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, need to recruit a supply of stored knowledge in order to situate and evaluate new information we encounter. As he quips:
“You can’t Google context.”
According to Andrew Meltzoff, co director of the University of Washington’s Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences in Seattle, the ‘new science of learning’ reveals that :
· Learning is computational and that infants and toddlers posses innate capabilities to see and hear patterns. By reinforcing these capabilities in the very young we can shape and aid learning in the child.
· Learning is social and people learn better through social cues. According to Meltzoff: social factors play an important role in life-long learning.
· Learning is driven by brain circuitry and brain cells are fired up during both perception and action overlap in people, which allows students to identify with their teachers and speeds learning.
It seems that scientists are now quietly tackling education issues, offering up new tools, new approaches and even new disciplines, like the new science of learning which is a convergence of the thinking and research of psychologists, neuroscientists, roboticists and teachers. In time more research will reveal the wonders of learning and the practical applications of this research will be absorbed into the teaching and learning programs.
Melttzoff, when asked in an interview about the age old question of whether learning is primarily nature or nurture, had this to say:
“There is no real conflict between nature and nurture, no conflict between biology and culture. What is unique about human biology is that we depend on other people for learning. We are influenced deeply by our teachers, parents and peers. I like to say that we humans are born to learn.”
How true!
Karon Graham
No comments:
Post a Comment